Public Accountability & Reporting

Public Accountability & Reporting

Freedom of Information

Ontario’s healthcare system is becoming increasingly transparent and accountable to the patients and communities it serves.

An example of this is the application of Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) legislation to Ontario hospitals, which took effect January 1, 2012 and is retroactive five years.

CKHA is an organization committed to transparency and accountability; we fully support the application of FIPPA to hospitals.

FIPPA, also commonly called Freedom of Information or FOI, is about providing a way for the public to access information within the control or custody of a hospital. It is about helping people get the information they want.

We are committed to working with requestors to provide the information they seek. However, hospitals have a lot of information under their control or custody that will not be shared with the public, such as personal health information, employment records or foundation/charitable donation records.

That’s because this legislation does not supersede the need to protect a patient’s or individual’s privacy. If anything, FOI makes us as healthcare professionals more acutely aware of the importance of protecting privacy – particularly a patient’s privacy -- in an increasingly transparent sector.

CKHA also welcomes the opportunity to support transparency and public accountability by regularly disclosing information (including salaries, expenses and executive contracts) -- all of which can already be found under “Public Accountability & Reporting” on our website.

Process to Request Information

To make a FIPPA request, please complete and submit a request form. You may make a request for access to records without using this form, provided you do so in writing.

All written requests are subject to a $5.00 application fee. Cash, cheque or money order must accompany the request and be payable to Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

All requests are also subject to additional fees for searching, preparing or copying the records. If the total cost of processing your request exceeds $100, you will be provided with a fee estimate before processing begins and you will be required to pay a deposit of 50% of the total processing costs before Chatham-Kent Health Alliance begins to process your request. Please refer to Fee Schedule for a list of all applicable charges.

Check out our FAQ's We want to make accessing information about the hospital as easy as possible. If you can’t find what you are looking for on our public website, please contact us to request the information.

Quality Improvement Plan

At Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA), our priority is to deliver safe, accessible quality care to the community we serve. To live our Mission, “One Team, Two Sites: Serving Chatham and Rural Kent,” and to achieve our Vision, “Together, Growing a Healthier Community,” we continuously look for ways to improve the quality of our services and the patient and family experiences within the local healthcare system.

CKHA’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is evidence of our commitment to providing the highest quality, safe patient care. We are committed to setting high standards, to exceeding the expectations of our patients and to continuous performance improvement in an environment of service excellence. Improving the patient experience is a top priority at CKHA.

Chatham Campus

Sydenham Campus

Chatham-Kent Health Alliance receives funding from the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network.